LANSING -- The Michigan Department of Education received a $400,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation to begin development of a student data system for pre-kindergarten children, the department announced Tuesday.

The grant will fund development of an oversight committee with input from multiple state agencies and other stakeholders, a feasibility study on costs to develop and maintain the system and a five-year strategic plan.

The system is intended to allow state agencies to share data in real time about children enrolled in public pre-kindergarten programs, according to a news release. The data would be used to encourage participation in health and development programs and close service gaps, and would allow education officials to monitor a child's progress from preschool through graduation, according to the release.

The system will comply with state and federal privacy regulations, the release states.

State Superintendent Mike Flanagan said the grant will help Michigan prepare to build the system.

“We need to be able to follow and measure the successes, and opportunities, of quality early childhood learning,” Flanagan said in a statement. “This generous grant from the Kellogg Foundation will help get us to the starting line.”

No timeline was announced for when work on developing the system would begin.